Shaping or cutting machine



Sept. 28, 1943.

J. T. HEPBURN SHAPING OR CUTTING MACHINE Filed Nov. 25, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet l :E- 3 z INVENTDR J.T.HEF'E|URN.

TTQF-KNEY.

Sept. 28, 1943. H U 2,330,354

SHAPING OR CUTTINQ MACHINE Filed Nov. 25, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTUR 351g .73 JITHEPBURN Patented Sept. 28, 1943 were erases earner; j

I c 2,330,354: snAPnv OR-CUITING'MAGHINE" Johnflf: liepburn 'loronto; Ontario, Canada; Apnlication November 25, 1941, seria1 No. 420.434-

Th'is (invention relatesetoshapingor cutting machines, as'for,inst,ance,11athes andlth'e like and; particularly, concerns autornatic' control means therefor .througluvh'icha cutting tool may be, automatically engagedliwithi. and; disenga ed from.matriallbEingrut.

The invention mayconveniehtlyhbe illustrated by, reference tov a. lathe and .themachiningaof shells... In this sphere it isusual'to form aproj'e'ctiongor 'pip .on. the .end of the. shell" which" is usedfiin machining. operations but it'is necessary finally to cut away, thisiproiectio'n. 'This has been done bycla'mp-ing the .shelll'in. the lathe and causing the cuttingitoolwto traverse. the .baseoi? the shell iduring whichl time. itiengages the pip and. cuts. itlavvayy A.- difiiculty. which; has been experienced in this operation; howevenhas .been thatupomreversal of the movement .of 1the=cutting tool to return it to its normal-posi.tion.the tool contacts withv thebase of the ,sh'elljandhcuts or marks it" unless the:operator-lofjthe machine is alert and, removes .the. cutting tool! from .the

proximity, otth'e shell base at the-endof the cutting operation and Tpriorto {the return oflihe cutting tool to its normal position. On the other :w

handqeven if the operator does remove .the cut.- ting tool,' the operation .in hand isldelayed .while he performs this function before reversingnthe mechanism. Moreover, before the. next cutting operati'onis proceeded with" itjisleither necessary for ,the operator to set the tool again inposition so asito'cutv the pip. at the proper pointer to employspecial mechanism toldo so: Thus either another'delay is caused before settingthecuttingmechanismin motion againor. additional '3 v mechanism is required.

It is an object of the. present inventionto eliminate the disadvantages. outli'nedandito provide a machine in which the cuttingqtool is autofor, moving the tool .holder .back warde d aforward along such.surfaceincluding control.means for initiating, thispmovementn Couplei'withthis is a means i for moving' the .tool towards. and awayfrom the material Lintdandbut of .operam ing' positionand ameansactuatedby the'control means for operatingrthectool.movingpmeans to position the tool .in cutting. positionlsimultaneously with the forward motion of the tool hold-. or and to .remove the "toolfr'omacutting.position upon reverse movement of .the .too1 holder.-

Ihis mech'anisim .-may, take various forms, one

simple form ofwhich is illustrated. in. the :present 7 ap-nlication and from vvvh-ichgthe invention :will be understood y reference. to thefollowing-detailed description takenrin conjnnction. withe-theeam' companyingj drawings In the drawings:

Fig, 1 is. a side elevation of. a.-.lathe-.illustrat+ in'g' j.the tool holder and.v also,i1lustrating=-.a-. part I simultaneouslybe shiftedaxially.intoengagement of the control mes'rnsiorv moving-the. toolv towards and faw'ayiro'm the-materialbeing .worked upon ' Fig, "2 11s .a. front elevation .01 part of-a lathe showing the tool holderandlmeansiormoving-it alongside a surface offthe material being worked upon, said View illustrating the control tori-such movement and .a means. Wherebythe. .tool may Witlrth'e materialltobe workedwupon, and;

Fig.3 is a topplansview of Fig.v 2,- ands. Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken throughthe tool holder andtassociatedqmechanismeforr'acti ating it.

Fig. .5Iis a the mechanism foe-actuating, the tooli holders Fig. an a section takenthroughta controlwvalve operated; by 'contr'oL means .for. reversing: the movement of the actuating means; and.

Fig, 7 is a .sectionetaken through the -control valve similarlytofFig. 6 but *showingatheavalve I "in reversed position.

v Bleferringt the drawings, Aeindicatesthevbase of latheor the like of -usual construc tion:in:-

eluding ,chuckul il -designed. tot-hold 'and-vrotate .materialto be worked upon suchiaseawshellxB;

Monntedonthe latheis a tool-holderaC carrying anaxially' Iii-lovable:ltool I I The :tool-holdenC is carriedlonia suitablerbasezplate oricar-riage I2 reciprocable'.transversely of the-lathe oniassuitabledovetailed slide l3. 1 The'slidewis'tofnailength .soltli a-tthe tool holderC is positioned tozone'side of: the materiai; to be Workednpon and: .the gtool holder may be shifted transversely ontthe 'slide to) move beside a; surface ofiztheimaterialaearried in-.. the:-lathe;: I

longitudinal section taken through i The transverse movement of the tool holder C, in either direction, is effected by an operating unit and preferably by means of a combination of a pneumatic cylinder 4 and a hydraulic cylinder I5 connected by rod IS with an upstanding flange or the like on the base or carriage l2 so that reciprocation of the rod IE will cause the base I2 and carried tool holder C to move forwardly and rearwardly along the slide IS.

The tool' H is carried in the tool holder C which in turn is movable at right angles to its base |2 along a slide H and, in the present illustration, will move towards and away from the base of the shell B, This movement is effected by means of a screw threaded shaft l8 rotatably carried by a bracket 9 on the tool holder'and which is in screw threaded engagement with the screw threaded bore of a stationary sleeve I9 in the base of the tool holder. berotated in any suitable manner such as by a wheel or disk 28 keyed thereto and upon rotation of which in onedirection or the other, the shaft l8 will rotate correspondingly to cause the tool to move, by means of the tool holder, forward along slide into engagement with the material or rearwardly from engagement with it.

To control the operation of the cylinder I4, I provide a suitable control lever 2| designed in one extreme position to direct the flow of motive fluid to the cylinder M in such a path as to move the carriage or base l2 of the tool holder to the left and in the other extreme position to move it to the right. The control lever is designed to actuate the valve plug a (see Figs. 6 and 7) to connect the air supply pipe I) with either of the flexible pipe lines or d, either one of which when not connected to the supply pipe I) exhausts through the exhaust passage 7. The pipe lines o and (Z connect with opposite ends of the cylinder M so as to cause its piston to move in one direction or the other. Fluid in the cylinder I is moved from one side of its piston to the other by means of a conduit g with which a valve 71. may be associated so that the speed of transfer of the fluid in cylinder 5 from one side of the piston to the other may be efiected at a given rate, thus to control the speed at which the carriage i2 is moved by the piston rod I6. The control valve is carried in the casing 22 which I position adjacent to and movable with the tool holder.

The control lever 2| is connected with the wheel or disk 26 by means of a link 23 which is pivotally connected at one end as at 24 to the control lever 2| and pivotally connected at its other end as at 25 to the wheel or disk 26. Thus, when the control lever 2| is swung to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 2 in order to cause the base l2 and tool holder C to move along the surface of the material the simultaneous partial rotation of the disk 20 will cause the screw threaded shaft I8 to rotate and move the movable tool mounting along its slide and inwardly towards the material, positioning the tool in accurate cutting position. In this instance by selecting the length of the link 23 and its point of connection on the control lever 2| the extent to which the tool is inwardly projected may be accurately gauged. Accordingly the link 23 and its connection with the control lever 2| forms a means for controlling the extent to which the tool may be shifted in towards the material being worked upon.

In the present instance when the control lever 2| is shifted to its dotted line position the base The shaft It may 2 and carried tool holder C moves along the slide I 3 across the base of the shell B. Simultaneously, the tool holder C and the tool H are moved at right angles to the base to project the tool into cutting position by means of the link 23, disk 20, and threaded shaft l8, so that the tool engages the projecting pip which is cut off as the tool passes across the base of the rotating shell. When the tool holder has moved to the end of its stroke, the control lever 2| is thrown to its full line position (Fig. 2) and the motive fluid is reversed in cylinder l4 so as to reverse the movement of the tool holder and its base l2 to return it to normal position ready for the next cutting operation, Simultaneously with the return of this lever to normal position the tool is retracted from cutting position by means of the link 23 so that the tool holder is returned to normal position on its base and the tool will not in this instance contact with the material and score or mark it.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the invention not only eliminates the possibility of scoring or marking of the material being worked upon but it also functions to eliminate delays incident to setting the tool in its proper cuttingposition before it commences its cutting operation and retracting the tool from the work prior to returning the tool holder to its normal position for its next piece of Work and resetting the tool. Thus, the invention will serve to speed up production, assure precision of operation and improve the quality of the work.

It will, of course, be obvious that various means might be employed for connecting the control and the tool shifting mechanism. Moreover, it will also be obvious that the shaping and cutting apparatus may be applied to various types of operation and it is by no means confined to the cut ting operation for shells and the like such as has been used for the purpose of illustrating the practicability of the invention.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A machine for shaping or cutting material comprising in combination means for holding th material, a tool holder for positioning a cutting tool relatively to the material, means for moving the tool holder forward or backward along beside a surface of the material, control means for controlling the movement of said moving means for the tool holder, means for moving the tool towards and away from the material into and out of operating position and means actuated by said control means for actuating the tool moving means to position the tool in operating position on forward motion of the tool holder and to withdraw the tool from operating position upon reverse movement of the tool holder, said means 'for moving the tool holder including a prime mover disposed at an angle to the tool holder and operatively connected therewith to move the tool holder in forward or reverse direction, said control means being connected with the prime mover to control its movement and including a reciprocal lever and mounting therefor movable with the tool holder, said tool moving means including a rotatable screw threaded shaft in threaded engagement with the tool holder and on which the tool holder is movable and an operating member for rotating the shaft, said control lever and operating member being link con nected to operate in unison.

2. A machine for shaping or cutting material comprising in combination means for holding the material, a tool holder for positioning a cutting tool relatively to the material, an operating unit connected with the tool holder for movingthe tool holder in two directions, forward or backward along beside a surface of the material, control means for causing movement of said operating unit in one direction or the other, said means including a lever operable to two positions respectively to cause the tool holder to move in one direction or the other, means for moving the l v tool towards and away from the material into and out of operating position, including a rotatable screw-threaded shaft operatively connected holder on rotation of the shaft, an operating member for rotating the'shaft, said control lever and operating member being link connected to,

operate simultaneously one with the other, for

actuating the tool moving means towards the ma terial on forward motion of'the toolholder and to withdraw the tool away from the material upon reverse movement of the tool holder.

JOHN T. HEPBURN.

to the tool holder to cause movement of the tool 

